Flavours from Italy

He’s just had a hectic week of preparing special dishes for the Florentine food festival that ends today at Pizzamore, an Italian cuisine restaurant in Sector 22, Chandigarh, but chef Maurizio Betti can afford no rest. Beginning July 18, the 57-year-old professional baker and pizza chef will have Tuscany fare to offer to tricity residents.

He’s just had a hectic week of preparing special dishes for the Florentine food festival that ends today at Pizzamore, an Italian cuisine restaurant in Sector 22, Chandigarh, but chef Maurizio Betti can afford no rest. Beginning July 18, the 57-year-old professional baker and pizza chef will have Tuscany fare to offer to tricity residents.

On his maiden India visit, the chef says he is loving every bit of this country and that it was his dream to bring authentic Italian cuisine for the Indians to taste. Having been a part of the food business for 36 years now, Betti adds, “Food festivals help create awareness about different types of food around the world.”

For the Florentine and now Tuscany food festival, Betti made a long list of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. “The specialty of cuisine from Florentine is that it evolved at a time when workers would cook dishes in earthern pots placed at the mouth of brick kiln’s furnace,” informs the chef. In the city, Betti made mouth-watering recipes such as Pie with broccoli in Pecorino cheese sauce, Fiorentine eggplant and Cantuccini di Prato (almond cookies)— specialties from Florentine—and will now bring forth items such as Mixed Bruschetta and Beans All’uccelletto. Desserts from the land of Tuscany, known for cakes and breads, will have puddings and eggless delicacies.

Whilst in the city, Betti, who is the vice president of ACF (Association of Chefs Fiorentini), will also train the chefs at Pizzamore and award them certification by the ACF. Before he returns to India next time, Betti has an agenda. “I would definitely learn English so that I don’t need a translator the next time I am here and can educate people and local chefs better,” he smiles.

Tuscany food fest will be on at Pizzamore from July 18-24. Meal for one is priced at R300 (plus taxes).